Auxiliary spring.



y W. A. ROSS.

AUXILIARY 'SPRINGL APPLIUATIOH FILED A1 11.1,-1910.

980,343. Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

To all whom it mag concern.

' UNITED TAT S WARNER al; itoss, or"

PATFENT OFF Q nnrndrr, nicn e iiv.

X anxrnmnrsrniney v Be itknown' that I, lVARNnn' Ross, a CliZlZBIl of the United States, residmgat De troit, 'in the county of Wayne and State of 'Mlchlgan, have invented certain am nd useful Improvements in Auxiliary Springs,

-- of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to-auxiliary springs and suspension devices for automobiles or other vehicles, and has particular reference to devices of this character'whereby the body of the vehicle may be so supported as i to eliminate all of the usual'objectionable top effects due to irregularity in the road,.all of the invention applied thereto; 2 is :1 Ian view of the auxiliary resillent con nectlon, the means attaching the same to the frame of the vehicle being shown in secward the tion, Figs; 3 andj l are modifications, and Fig. 5 is a detail section more clearly showf ing the link connection of Fig; '4.

Throughout the following description and on the several figures ofthe drawings similar parts are referred to by like reference characters.

At 10 is indicated a vehicle axle having supporting wheels 11. Supported upon the axle are main sprin s 12, of any suitable or well known type, w ich are intended to resiliently support the load in the usual manner. Instead of the vehicle body being supported directly upon said springs; 12 the body is supported by intermediate devices in a peculiar manner.

At 13 is shown a bar or frame of any suitable shape or construction, dependent upon the form of springs 12, the bar being mounted directly upon said springs. A pair of levers 14 are pivoted on the ends of said bar 13 and are so disposed that one end of each of the levers extends from its point of connection with the bar across to. the opposite side of the vehicle body and its other end extends substantially downwardly toround. The vehicle body or its frame indicated at 15 is connected in any suitable manner, as by links 16, to the up per portion of said levers. Any suitable resilient means 17 may be employed to connect the downwardly extending ends 14: of said levers, such means being operative to resist Specif cation of' etters Patent. v I Patented Ja 3"1911 Application filed April 7; 1910. Serial No. 554,061.

- Y' normal downward force of .the vehicle body upon the links 16, such force tending to turn the levers 14- upon their pivots 14.

The connecting means 17 between arms 14' of thelevers is shown as comprising in one of its preferred forms a pair of springs 18 and 19 connected at their opposit-e ends to bars or levers 20. A link 21 serves to connect each of the levers 20 with the adjacent arm 14, the'point of connection with said lever being preferably nearer one spring than another. The link 21 may be provided with a common 'form ofturn buckle for adjustment purposes if desired.

Should one of the wheels'11strike an obstacle tending to raise the wheel, or enter a rut tending to permit thewheel to drop, the

effect of such irregularityxwould not be transmitted immediately to the vehicle body on the side thereof adjacent said wheel, but the efiect of such irregularity would cause theadjiacent lever 14' to swing onits pivot and such movement of the lever wont be cushioned by the spring connections 1:7,the

l levers 1-1 constituting equalizing means preventing the entire weight of the vehicle body -'ir.pm bei-ng shift d to any singlewheel. By making one of the springs 18 and 19 weaker than the other it would naturally respond quicker to the movement of the lever than would the other spring, bittifag greater turning moment on the lever ,fould of course bring both the springs 'in'-to" cooperation. The strength ofthe spring connection 17 will be determined by the adjusting devices according to the normal 'loadto be carried by the vehicle, and an important feature of this invention resides in means whereby an added load will automatically increase the tension of said connection. To this end I have shown one of the springs so connected to the axle at 22 as to cause the spring connection 17 to be increased in tension proportionately to the downward displacement of the lower end of arms 14' due to the compression of the springs 12 by the added load of the vehicle body, as indicated in a somewhat exaggerated form by dotted lines in Fig. 1. Any suitable means may be employed to connect said spring of the device 17 to the axle for this purpose. The con nection 22 between the spring connection 18 and the axle 10 has the effect of displacing certain elements of the spring device 17 in a direction at a right angle with respect to the movement of the elements or coils of said spring device when placed under tens on. In other words, in the actual operation of the invention, the efficiency of the spring connection 17 is increased because on downward bodily movement of the vehicle body and the equalizing levers 14:,

' 'which'movement is allowed by the provision 14 extending upwardly at their outer ends,

instead of downwardly as in Fig. 1, and the resilient connection 17" being attached to the levers above the same, an arrangement practically opposite that of Fig. 1. Figs. 4 and illustrate modified means for connecting the spring 18" with the axle, a link i 18 being pivotally connected with the spring 18 and similarly connected with a yoke 22",

v the latter swinging on the axle 10, Any one of these-modified constructions may be'emplayed in the actual practice of my invention. I

' I claim: 1

1. The combination with a vehicle axle, main springs supported thereon, and a bar connected to said springs, of a body, a pair of levers connected to the body and to the -Jopposite ends of said bar, and extending thence downward from the bar, and a resilient connection between the lower ends of said levers.

2. The combination with a vehicle axle,

main springs supported thereon and a bar connected to said springs, a lever pivoted to each end of saidbar, one end of each lever extending from its downward and the other end extending from said oint across the bar to a point above the pivotal point of the other lever, a body connected to the upper crossed ends of said levers, resilient connections between the lower ends of said levers, a portion of said connections being anchored to the axle whereby the tension of the connections will be increased automatically with the increase of load on the vehicle frame operative through said main springs.

3. In combination, a vehicle body, an axle, a supporting bar, a pair of levers connected at corresponding ends with the body and pivotally connected to said bar, main springs supportlng the body, bar, and levers permitting simultaneous downward movement thereofl, an auxiliary spring connection attached to the opposite corresponding ends of the levers, and means connecting said spring connection with the axle for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signaturev in presence of two witnesses.

WARNER A. ROSS.

Witnesses:

EDWARD H. EIoHnLzER, HARRY Huns'r.

point of ,connection 

